With my current project wrapping up, I'm looking at relaunching Dragon Pulp. It was an experimental poll-based webcomic. The premise was simple: every installment ended with a poll where the readers voted on what plot twist happened next. The next week, I would unveil the new installment and the process would repeat. It was a hectic schedule, but the story lasted about 20 installments and was roughly 80 pages long.

Being an overly ambitious sort of fellow, I'm wanting to take its spirit of radical collaboration to the next level:

Are you the kind of writer that walks away from every movie with a million different ideas for new stories? Do you have more ideas than you could ever hope to write down?

If so, Dragon Pulp may be looking for you. I'm assembling a team of writers for cutting edge collaborative storytelling. As a member of the team, you'll write pitches for how the story will develop and the readers will vote for which pitch they like most. You'll be playing off of other equally creative minds and ultimately crafting a story that none of us could have written alone. It will be challenging- you'll have to think on your feet and make it up as you go along. It'll be loosely controlled chaos and seat-of-your-pants collaboration. It's not for everyone, but if it's for you- it's a rush. For better or worse, the polls mean constant reader feedback.

You'll be paid directly for your work and will also recieve profit shares from any crowdfunding campaigns.

Writers will be selected for the core team based on what assets they can bring; diverse perspectives will be greatly appreciated. Previous experience with fantasy genre projects is preferred, but not required. Our schedule will be hectic, but laid back: if you're not able to contribute to any given installment, it's no biggie.

The deadline for applications is September 14, 2013, but applications recieved before August 31, 2013 will be given priority. I can be reached for questions at Ram **at** RamLama **dot** com. Best of luck, everybody! If you're not a writer yourself, but know anyone that might be interested, make sure to forward this to them (because we all know how often an artist strolls into the room, says he's looking for writers, and then offers to pay them).

Last edited by RamLama on Fri Jul 05, 2013 5:32 pm; edited 1 time in total

Are you... feeling okay? (gets out thermometer) Paying? A WRITER? Actually, in your case it makes sense, sort of. I don't know where you managed to get this budget but I think it's a killer opportunity for the types of people who thrive on brainstorming.

I consider myself one of those people. But I might have actually stumbled on some other paid writing work already. Not for comics. But still. I know, right?

WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO. Writers. Getting money. Pfah._________________

Are you... feeling okay? (gets out thermometer) Paying? A WRITER? Actually, in your case it makes sense, sort of. I don't know where you managed to get this budget but I think it's a killer opportunity for the types of people who thrive on brainstorming.

I consider myself one of those people. But I might have actually stumbled on some other paid writing work already. Not for comics. But still. I know, right?

WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO. Writers. Getting money. Pfah.

I know, right? It's craziness. The seed money for the project comes from my freelance illustration profits; hard earned money being cycled back into other creators. Ha... I was the sole writer for the first incarnation of the project, so I know it can be uniquely challenging.

The rates mostly qualify as semi-pro. I'll be trying to keep the team small enough that the split for contributors isn't insulting, but large enough that we have enough pitches to keep going. It'll be a balance, and I can't guarantee there won't be a learning curve involved.

Ha... I remember reading your comic Maker (http://maker.thecomicseries.com/comics/first/ for the folks at home) while I was working on the first incarnation of Dragon Pulp! I thought about extending an invitation directly, since I knew you were into the radical collaboration stuff (and I dig the dream worlds you've worked on)... but I'm trying to take the tact of letting the contributors volunteer themselves and work from what the world provides. Tentative congrats on the paying work! It's a brave new world out there....

Wow. Just wow. Man, I have an amazing amount of respect for you right now. You're rearing to take a professional leap and you're treating this as such. Like Metruis, I was surprised that you were willing to pay writers.

I'll be honest. In the field of visual mediums, artists are generally the most sought after. They can usually handle their own writing which is why people are more inclined to cut the middle man out. It's not an easy field for writers to succeed in; although, that's not to say that it's easy for artists either, but there's less of an opportunity to shine.

I think I'll try to cast my lot in! By the same token, I'm looking to take my own professional leap with a comic I'm writing. I looked for an artist just like you did and offered professional rates expected for amateurs.

Looks like I might have my paying work (it's for a sprite RPG video game) but hey, I definitely appreciate that you thought of asking me! I do love the radial collaborative stuff, enough so that I might send an application in anyway. I do dig the dreamworld thing, and very much enjoy teamwork. It isn't often people compliment me on my webcomic writing, so I appreciate it... I think mostly I'm known as an artist.

I enjoyed reading the first incarnation of Dragon Pulp back in the day so I'm excited to see how it turns out._________________

I think I'll try to cast my lot in! By the same token, I'm looking to take my own professional leap with a comic I'm writing. I looked for an artist just like you did and offered professional rates expected for amateurs.

Again, nothing but respect for you, man.

Awesome. I look forward to looking over your application! If you have any questions in the interim, just let me know. Thanks a bunch! Also, best of luck with your other series. There ae some amazing artists out there looking for paid work.

Metruis wrote:

Looks like I might have my paying work (it's for a sprite RPG video game) but hey, I definitely appreciate that you thought of asking me! I do love the radial collaborative stuff, enough so that I might send an application in anyway. I do dig the dreamworld thing, and very much enjoy teamwork. It isn't often people compliment me on my webcomic writing, so I appreciate it... I think mostly I'm known as an artist.

Game writing sounds like it'd be a blast. It's a field I've been giving thought to lately too. I took a break from drawing yesterday to sketch out a template for a plot tree for a series of RPG vignettes I've been considering (I have a program that makes html5 game coding pretty simple, so it's something I could theoretically incorporate into the website).

We'll probably be starting out with a Tolkienesque, psuedo-European, psuedo-medieval world (for accessibility purposes). The plan will be to do a series of short stories while the team gets practice. We'll likely start out with two-installment stories: one installment to introduce the conflict, one to resolve it. After a couple of those, we'll try three-installment stories and slowly add new variables to the mix.

I honestly don't know how much time commitment it'll take. The amount of effort it'll take for the writers to make the pitches- from conception to writing- is an unknown variable for me, and I'm guessing it'll vary from person to person. I'm hoping that it'll be able to easily be a secondary project for the writers. At most, the team will have two pitches per month, but the average should be closer to one (and, if I get the balance right, the team will be big enough that not every member has to contribute to every installment). Anyone who thinks about it as a main gig will probably be underwhelmed pretty quickly, but I definitely don't want to discount the time it takes to come up with nifty ideas or to develop them into unabashed awesomeness.